Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences department invites 14 fresh academics to join their ranks for academic year 2025.
In the vibrant academic community at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) welcomes a diverse group of new professors for the year 2025. These scholars bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to their respective fields, with research areas spanning political methodology, historical political science, and interdisciplinary studies across humanities and arts.
Naoki Egami, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and a faculty affiliate of the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, specialises in political methodology. He develops statistical methods for questions in political science and the social sciences, with current projects focusing on external validity and generalizability, machine learning and AI applications for social sciences, and causal inference with network and spatial data. Egami earned his PhD from Princeton University in 2020 and BA from the University of Tokyo in 2015, before joining MIT from Columbia University.
Valentin Figueroa, an assistant professor in Political Science, explores historical state-building, ideological change, and scientific innovation, with a regional focus on Western Europe and Latin America. He is working on a book about the transition from patrimonial administrations to bureaucratic states in early modern Europe. Figueroa holds a PhD from Stanford University and previously taught at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
The Department of Linguistics and Philosophy welcomes Bar Luzon and Viola Schmitt as assistant professors. Luzon's research focuses on the philosophy of mind and language, metaphysics, and epistemology, with a particular interest in the nature of representation and the structure of reality. Schmitt, a linguist with a special interest in semantics, aims to understand general constraints on human language meaning.
In the Comparative Media Studies/Writing program, Angela Saini and Rebekah Larsen join as assistant professors. Saini, a science journalist and author, presents television and radio documentaries for the BBC and publishes in National Geographic, Wired, Science, and Foreign Policy. She has published four books, which have together been translated into 18 languages. Larsen's research interests lie in the intersections of technology, media, and society.
The Music and Theater Arts Section welcomes Paris Smaragdis, Mark Rau, and Pascal Le Boeuf as professors. Smaragdis, a professor with a shared appointment in the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, has a background in signal processing and machine learning, especially as it relates to sound and music. Rau is involved in developing graduate programming focused on music technology, while Le Boeuf, a Grammy Award-winning composer, jazz pianist, and producer, brings a unique blend of artistic and academic expertise to the department.
Ben Lindquist, an assistant professor in the History Section and the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, observes the historical ways that computing has circulated with ideas of religion, emotion, and divergent thinking. His first book, "The Feeling Machine," is under contract with the University of Chicago Press.
Becca Lewis, an assistant professor in the Comparative Media Studies/Writing program, has a background in communication theory and research from Stanford University and the University of Oxford. Her work has been published in academic journals such as New Media and Society, Social Media and Society, and American Behavioral Scientist, and in news outlets like The Guardian and Business Insider. In 2022, Lewis served as an expert witness in the defamation lawsuit brought against Alex Jones by the parents of a Sandy Hook shooting victim.
Rounding out the new faculty is Rachel Fraser, an associate professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT. Much of Fraser's work focuses on understanding principles regulating which meanings can be expressed by human languages and how languages can package meaning.
These exceptional scholars join MIT SHASS in 2025, bringing a rich array of research and teaching expertise to the vibrant academic community at the institution.
- The School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) at MIT introduces a multifaceted group of new professors for the year 2025, each bringing expertise and research spanning various fields.
- Naoki Egami, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science, focuses on political methodology, developing statistical methods for political science and social science questions.
- Valentin Figueroa, an assistant professor in Political Science, investigates historical state-building, ideological change, and scientific innovation, with a regional focus on Western Europe and Latin America.
- Bar Luzon and Viola Schmitt, both assistant professors in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, delve into the philosophy of mind and language, metaphysics, epistemology, and semantics.
- In the Comparative Media Studies/Writing program, Angela Saini and Rebekah Larsen join as assistant professors, with Saini specializing in science journalism and Larsen focusing on technology, media, and society.
- Paris Smaragdis, Mark Rau, and Pascal Le Boeuf are new professors in the Music and Theater Arts Section, with Smaragdis' background in signal processing and machine learning, Rau focusing on music technology, and Le Boeuf bringing artistic and academic expertise.
- Ben Lindquist, an assistant professor in the History Section and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, examines the historical connections between computing, religion, emotion, and divergent thinking.
- Becca Lewis, an assistant professor in the Comparative Media Studies/Writing program, has a background in communication theory and research, with her work published in academic journals and news outlets.
- Rachel Fraser, an associate professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, studies principles regulating human language meanings and packaging.
- These new faculty members, including publishing scholars and fellows, will contribute to the ongoing research and learning ecosystem at MIT SHASS in 2025.
- The MIT SHASS community looks forward to these scholars' contributions to personal growth, education-and-self-development, and mental education.
- The public can anticipate reports and articles in science, technology, and engineering journals, as well as news stories featuring the work of these researchers.
- Society as a whole can benefit from the innovative ideas and policy implications that these professors bring to their respective fields.
- Through their research and teaching, these new faculty members will contribute to the continued growth and vibrancy of the academic community at MIT SHASS.
